The Highway and the Lost Soldier
The Highway and the Lost Soldier The midday sun around Adelaide River does something violent to the bitumen. At forty-five degrees, the Stuart Highway softens like melting fat; it turns into a black mirror, rippling with an unnatural, liquid glare that pools over every low rise. That is where it waits. He is always trudging south, away from life and deeper into the blistering furnace, his boots making no sound against the tar. From two hundred yards out, he resembles a stranded traveler you’d pull over to save. He wears sun-bleached, disintegrating drill cotton that matches the bone-white dust of the termite country, his head angled down at an impossible, broken angle against the glare. No broad-brim hat. No swag. No water bottle. Just stiff, unnatural limbs jerking with every stride. “Driver... look at his face. We need to stop—why won't he turn around?” He is no lost tourist. Could he be the linesman from the Overland Telegraph days who tore off his clothes and vanished into the ...


And ironically I found this post through Twitter while sitting down to write a post myself.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it's a constant battle to stay on track. When I'm working I often shut Twitter off completely, those little flashes that something new has arrived are too tempting. I try to deal with email twice a day - when I get up I go through and delete, then at the end of the day I answer things I've had a chance to think about.
At least that's the aim!